As mobile devices and the mobile Internet are popularized, a terminal positioning technology gradually develops. Currently, a common terminal positioning method is a range-based positioning method. The range-based method is a method for determining an actual position of a mobile terminal by calculating a distance between the terminal and a base station connected to the terminal and using a triangle positioning technology. In a triangle positioning method, a distance between a terminal and a base station is estimated using radio signal strength (RSS) of three base stations received by the terminal, one coverage arc is drawn using the distance as a radius, and a crosspoint of three coverage arcs is a position of the terminal. A core step in the method is to calculate the distance between the terminal and the base station connected to the terminal. Further, the distance between the terminal and the base station may be estimated using observed RSS and radio signal attenuation in propagation (a signal attenuation model in an ideal surface propagation case). However, because the RSS is usually interfered with due to multipath attenuation, non-line-of-sight blockage, and the like, during triangle positioning, positioning precision is low and a large error exists. In addition, based on statistics about an actual record, most terminals are connected only to less than three base stations. As shown in Table 1, Table 1 shows percentages of quantities of base stations connected to a terminal in a measurement report (MR) of an operator in one day and three days.
TABLE 1Percentage of a quantity of base stations connected to a terminalQuantity of included base stations123456Percentage38%18%14%10%7%13%in one dayPercentage38%18%15%10%7%12%in three days
It can be learned by analyzing Table 1 that most terminals are connected to only one or two base stations. Consequently, terminal positioning performed using an algorithm such as a triangle positioning algorithm is inaccurate.
Based on the above, in an existing positioning method, positioning precision is low and an error is large because a radio signal is interfered with when terminal positioning is performed by calculating a distance between a terminal and a base station. Therefore, currently, a more effective terminal positioning method is urgently required to improve positioning accuracy and reduce a positioning error.